Mexican Media Brands
GM Touts “Game-Changer” Battery Technology
General Motors Co.
Share
General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson tells the company's employees there's a "better than 5:50 chance" that battery technology from Envia Systems Inc. can double the range of current electric cars.
GM Ventures LLC invested $7 million in the Newark, Calif.-based company 18 months ago. Envia says its lithium-ion system has demonstrated energy density of 400 Wh/kg compared to no more than 180 Wh/kg with current-generation lithium-ion batteries.
The battery developer attributes the improvement to its proprietary cathode and anode chemistries. Envia's cathodes use a manganese-rich composition with twice the energy density of lithium cobalt oxide used in today's lithium-ion systems. The company's cells use anodes made of a silicon-carbon nanocomposite.
Envia expects its batteries to cost $125 per kWh compared with $250-$350 per kWh for today's lithium-ion systems. The company estimates that an EV could travel 300 miles per charge with one of its batteries, which would cost less than a conventional lithium-ion battery with less than half the range.
Envia does materials research and pilot production in California. Its cell prototyping and manufacturing plant is in Jiaxing, China.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Plastics: The Tortoise and the Hare
Plastic may not be in the news as much as some automotive materials these days, but its gram-by-gram assimilation could accelerate dramatically.
-
Jeeps Modified for Moab
On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.
-
When Automated Production Turning is the Low-Cost Option
For the right parts, or families of parts, an automated CNC turning cell is simply the least expensive way to produce high-quality parts. Here’s why.
